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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Whilst we do have colour and flowers in our garden we are very much foliage fans, the combination of leaf shapes sizes and colours are what gives the garden its character.

Its always hard to select a favourite plant, but the following are looking particularly good at the moment.

The Szechuan pepper - Zanthoxylum schinifolium which as well as being used for spice also has edible young leaves

Rhodiola fastigiata, another lovely ground cover plant.

Rubus lineatus,with very distinctive leaves. This has really taken off this year.

Euodia fargesii, a rare deciduous shrub, we have had this for a couple of years.

Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii', known as the Abyssinian Banana, we are growing on several small plug plants this year in pots, which should reach quite a large size next year. We haven't grown this particular banana for a couple of years, so it has made a welcome return to the middle patio area this summer.

Ficus carica 'Adam' famed for its huge leaves, supposedly the fig used by Adam to hide his modesty in the bible. Judging by the size of the leaf he obviously had something to hide!

This one almost needs no introduction, Schefflera rhododendrifolia.

Personally i prefer the name it used to go under -S. impressa as I think it suits the plant well. This one has been with us for about 5 years and is now over 6 feet tall. Lower down it has numerous small buds and side shoots, so we may well find it ends up a bushy plant. Although I may take some of them off the preserve the shape, and have a try at taking some of the shoots off as cuttings and see it I can increase our plants, (I'm sure you will agree we need more plants :) !!)

Quite a mix of different plants, Persicaria sp. kunming, Euphorbia, Sedum and a Lysimachia all jostling for space. We featured a number of Persicarias in a dedicated post earlier this year, worth a look if you are not familiar with the various forms.

Even this little fella was enjoying the foliage of Mahonia trifoliolata, although I must confess he didn't get to have his desert.

The summer this year has given many plants a real boost with them having so much water, and we have had a boost too with some more sunshine recently.

I am always admiring your fabulous foliage. Your garden is an inspiration, and because of you I purchased my own red banana tree. It has become one of my most beloved. I also thank you for my Fatsia, which is doing very well. Could Rubus lineatus be next? Unfortunately, not hardy in my area, but I wish!

Hi Debs, glad to hear we are a good (or is that a bad?) influence on you. Its a shame the Rubus isn't hardy in your location though. There are quite a number of unusual and interesting Rubus species, perhaps we should feature the ones we have in a future blog post.

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